Seeing Red
by JockShipper
Summary: The angel that used to do these types of things never came back(unbeknownst to the "new guy"). Now no one wants to take on the challenge of collecting souls in the neutral realm. No one except a newly established angel. It can't be that hard, right?
1. Prologue: Press X to Respawn

**Brick's P.O.V.**

Being at war is such a bittersweet feeling. You're defending your country and of course that's something to be proud of. But at the same time, you have to kill opposing soldiers that are only trying to do the same thing you are. I can't help but imagine the reactions of a fallen soldier's family and friends when they get the news. I wish I could single-handedly apologize to all of them… _if _they even wanted to hear it from me.

_At least he went out honorable_, I thought as I successfully shot a crouching soldier in the head. When I was sure he was dead, I let go of my combat rifle with one hand to salute his unmoving figure on the ground. The soldier next to me—Shawn, I think, saw me and did the same. I think I've done that for every soldier I've shot down today...

_I guess all heroes have to die sometime._

I let out a heavy sigh._ What am I doing?_ It was time to suck it up a long time ago. My drill sergeant always told me "It's kill or be killed out there. So do what must be done." He was always a little harder on me than others, because "my sympathetic and kind nature isn't what the army needs."

But my dad was very kind, and he was an iconic figure for me to look up to… _he did just fine._

"Brick, no more enemy in sight, you ready to move?" Shawn asked, moving a bit closer to me.

"Affirmative."

As soon as we got up though, I felt a bullet sink through my upper thigh. Instinctively I grabbed the wound and dropped back onto the ground while Shawn shot the other guy… hopefully. I bit my hand to keep myself from screaming, the coppery taste of blood fresh on my tongue.

"Brick! Are you alright?" Shawn put his hand on my back and stared at me, worry and a mix of guilt written all over his face.

_I wanted to scream._ One: at Shawn, for telling me the area was clear, leading to the burning hole in my thigh. And Two: in pain, because it feels like a burning hot knife just plunged deep into my skin.

_But I didn't._ One: because I know he didn't do it on purpose and was truly sorry. I don't want this weighing down on him while he's supposed to be fully focused out here. And Two: biting my hand kinda distracts me from the pain in my thigh, if that makes a bit of sense.

"I'm alright. Can you just—"

"Of course." He cut me off and threw his arm around my waist, and I put mine around his shoulder.

"Thanks."

"No problem. It's the least I could do after… you know… your leg and—"

"It's okay, private. I'm sure I wouldn't have seen him there either. Things happen." He gave me an appreciative smile, and I returned it. He then helped me move to another spot to scout out enemy troops in.

* * *

Wait… what are we doing again? And why is this guy this holding me like this? I moved away from him then heard a loud pop, and I covered my head in instinct. What was that!? My breathing was hurried and heavy. The guy next to me looked at me and placed his hand on my arm, which I immediately brushed off. Why is he touching me?!

"Brick are you okay? You look a little pale…?"

"I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be!?" He tried to grab my shoulders, to my frustration. "Stop touching me!"

"Whoa!" he snatched his hands back and held them openly next to his head. "Are you upset with me about your leg? I thought you said it—"

"My what?" I said as I weakly grabbed my head. I was feeling weak, dizzy, and annoyed all at the same time. Not to mention I was sweating—a lot. My uniform was actually getting damp from it.

"I'm sorry but we don't have time for this. We'll talk about it when we're back at base."

What base? I dropped the subject when I suddenly… passed out?

"Brick!" was all I could faintly hear before it was replaced with this… ringing.

.

.

.

* * *

**If you don't get the way he died(yes, Brick's dead), it's fine. I'm going to explain it next chapter. But it has something to do with a very important thing in the thigh. I just don't want to "get medical" here. XD**

**Buuuuut Challenge time, suckers! Guess who's back!? I swear I put this in one of the author's notes from my last multi- chapter fic. Speaking of that train wreck, **_**it's time for this one to completely butcher that one!**_** You guys are **_**really**_** sweet, but let's face it… **_**LBWT was a disaster.**_** I wanted to go back to that as kind of a reflection, BUT I really can't read it again without cringing. Despite that I'd say it's pretty good for a first story, no? (don't read it. I just keep it up for development purposes. Like "oh she's came a long way at first she was doing this and now she's better at that" type of thing.)**

**But, in order to keep this going good, I'm going to need some constructive criticism! I really like it! Just like how I like how kind you guys are! uwu**

**One thing: should I make my chapters shorter? Like I just said they'll be shorter, but they'll be ready faster…? I'm conflicted so I need some opinions!**

**P.s. the next chapter might take a little longer than expected because I have a bunch of ideas kinda jumbled up in my mind and I need to organize them. /.\**

**~JockShipper**


	2. Taking the Challenge

**I forgot to mention that that was just a prologue! My chapters will be waaaay longer! I meant compared to the ones in LBWT… but it's all good now. I guess I was too caught up in the title for that that I didn't put "prologue" before it. By this update it should be fixed. Sorry about that! On to the replies! **

**Iamsoproh: Thanks Proh! Sentence fluency is something I struggle a bit with, so it's nice to see that you thought it was good. Much appreciation!**

**Rainpath of Thunderclan & Blue Saturday: Thank you guys!**

**ForteKham617: sooorrryyy for making you wait so long! I had some, er… tumblr separation issues… he heh. Anyhow, it really is kind of disappointing when a chapter is as long as my prologue was, especially if you've waited like 3 weeks for it. I would know. :/ Thank you for your pros and review in general! I thank you tons, man.**

**HopelesslyObsessedFanGirl709: …The **_**most**_** well-written? You stop that! Hehe… but seriously, this is the first time I've written any character death, taking into consideration the kind of stories I write: fluffy, silly, fun stuff. So this was really cool to hear! Thank you a lot! :D**

**The Salvatores of Death Metal: Thank you kindly! I haven't seen that, but maybe I'll look into it. And no, that's not Shawn; I just really like that name so I use it a lot. I used Sean in GLIMI too. **

**The Black Candle: Thank you, and thank you again, bro! But um, as for that, you mean she's a demon? Well yes, but she's certainly not the only one.**

**Alright, I'm done! Just a little note to you all: this is still my regular type of story… silly, pointless, funny, ect. The prologue was a bit of a downer because I had to kill Brick, so… yeah. **

**Disclaimer (which I forgot too): I do not own Total Drama or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Brick's P.O.V**

I squinted my eyes due to the uncomfortable brightness of the room—er, place… wherever I was. Everything looked white. I heard talking all around me, words I couldn't quite make out yet. Once my eyes adjusted to the contrast of the room, I could see people walking around with clipboards, rolling carts, and… wings. _They had wings._ I snatched my torso upwards, scanning everyone in the room. Out of the people around me, some had wings of varying shapes and sizes, but majority didn't. Majority was looking around the place, just as lost as I am. But something we all did have was a white hue around us, barely noticeable because of the color of the room—and almost everything else.

My ears weren't temporarily disabled anymore, so I could hear what everyone was talking about. A fairly young looking woman smiled at me, and turned around and yelled, cupping her mouth, "McArthur!"

In less than a minute, a man approached me, sticking his hand out, greeting me. He had golden blonde and shaggy hair, accompanied with blue-ish green eyes. "Congratulations, Brick McArthur... I'm Jon Williams. Pleasure to meet you, really. How about you step off that bed so I can assist you?"

I cautiously shook his hand and did as he kindly advised, but not without a little confusion. "Congrats? For what?"

He laughed at the question. "Look around you," he motioned his hand around us as I followed its direction. "Wings, white hues, white everything… take a wild guess at where you are."

It clicked. "Okay, no further explanation needed sir. Just to be sure… I'm an angel?"

"That you are! I know it's a bit weird that I'm happy about this but _you're an angel!_ It's pretty cool from here on out. This is just like a hospital. You guys are "newborn" angels… in a sense. I know you still have a lot of questions, all of which I will explain in my office." He paused for a second. "and you can just call me Jon."

"Okay… sure, Jon. Where i-" he snapped and everything turned white. Hopefully this isn't going to happen often because I can already tell I'm not gonna get used to the "flash" thing.

* * *

In a nanosecond we were in small room… office size alright. I stumbled a bit once my feet hit the ground, really not used to getting around that way. He grabbed a chair and motioned for me to have a seat, before sitting down behind a desk. Everything was white: the desk, the chairs, everything. There was a large stack of folders on his desk; he pulled the one off the top and started reading… everything about me…

"Brick Jeremiah McArthur: that's a mouthful…23. Only child of parents Jeremiah and Lauren…-"

"Excuse me for interrupting, si—Jon. But what is all this for?" to be completely honest, I was starting to not trust this guy, him knowing everything about me was a bit off-putting.

"Oh, nothing just making sure everything was correct. I assumed that if something was wrong on here you'd tell me, no?" he stopped as I nodded to him. "but I guess I should skip to the part you want to know then… Cause of death: hypovolemic shock cause by a severed femoral artery."

He took my raised eyebrow as a sign to elaborate. "The femoral artery is one of the major arteries in the upper thigh; it supplies blood to the lower part of the body. Yours was severed by a bullet, thus taking you into hypovolemic shock, which is sever blood and fluid loss that make the heart unable to pump enough blood to the body. Got all that?" he smiled to me as he finished.

"Yeah…" my voice trailed off as I thought of my mom's reaction to the news; her face when she sees the notifying officer at her door. Her husband and then her son following behind… I would _kill_ to tell her everything'd be okay…

A knock at Jon's door snapped me out of my thoughts. "Come in," he hollered to the person. It was another angel, who smiled at Jon and then flashed a quick one at me. "how's it going?"

"Very well, actually! There wasn't any crying this time. I really hate seeing people cry."

"I know, I know. So," she said picking up my folder and reading it. "you were a soldier, huh?"

"A very proud one, ma'am." I said smiling at the thought. I'd say I did pretty well! I saved two people during my time on the battlefield. That's quite a feat to be proud of!

"Jenny. Jenn for short." She said as she shook my hand, then directed her attention to Jon. "So… obviously this guy's courageous…well-disciplined… skilled…" her words made me blush a bit. Though she was also trying to get at something? I wasn't the only one that caught it because Jon gave her a cautious look; kinda like he knew what she was going to say…

"yes… of course… why do you say so?" he said slowly.

"Well," she said as she shifted her eyes away from his. "maybe, just maybe, he could take up the position as our new-" Jon cut her off by quickly but seemingly gently shoving her out the door, leaving me alone. Pretty weird… I wonder what she was going to say.

* * *

**No P.O.V**

"No no no!" Jon whisper-screamed as soon as he shut the door to his office. "I can't believe you! You know good and well that the last soul collector never came back!"

"Oh c'mon Jon! He can do it! Plus, think of all the angels floating around with those disgusting demons in the neutral realm! Brick was just lucky he was in our holding! You must've kept him special for a reason!"

"I actually kept a handful of them… and for no specific reason at all really. I said no, and I mean it. He is not going down there." He was about to walk back in his office until his phone in his pocket beeped; clearly another notification that another angel was born. "Here comes another one. Take care of Brick will ya?"

"yeah sure," she huffed, a bit upset about their constant need of a soul collector, making Jon smile at her.

"Thanks. And don't worry; we'll get those souls one day. somehow." with that, he took off.

With a sigh, Jenny opened the door and met Brick's intrigued look with a smile. She had no intentions of listening to Jon's disapproval of her suggestion with what she had to say next. "Alright, Brick. I really need your help with something."

"With what? I'd be happy to help."

"Are you sure? I mean, this job takes a lot of dedication and caution. It's not easy in the slightest. Are you really up for it?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

Brick, always up for a challenge and always looking to help someone, took the job without hesitation. He flashed her a reassuring smile. "Sure! Whatever you need me to do, I'll help you."

She smiled broadly, unconsciously clapping her hands and jumping up and down like a little kid, making Brick smile again in amusement. Realizing how ridiculous she probably looked, she ceased her jumping and cleared her throat. "Er, So, there's this place below our world called the neutral realm. The souls of angels wait for someone to retrieve them. That's all you have to do. Because without someone to do that, they just float around down there."

"Wait, so if there's no one to gather the angels, how am I here?"

"Good question. A few years ago, Jon had grabbed a bunch of humans' essences. They look like beans. A human's essence is really just a copy of their spirit… in bean form… sounds stupid I know. just the way it works. But once that human dies, the bean that contains their spirit copy starts to form into a soul; that specific human's soul. He collected a bunch in a jar before we had to drop them all down there. You were one of the copies he picked up."

"why'd you have to drop them down there anyway?" the question caused her to give him a blank look.

"Dude, do you know how many people there are in the world? This place and I'm pretty sure everywhere else would be flooded with beans. They're not that small you know… " _plus, we don't know which beans are demons and which are angels. Jon for some reason is special. I guess he just has a good eye for 'em, she added in her thoughts._

"Hm.. makes sense. When do I start?"

"Right now actually. Follow me." She left the room with Brick close behind. They ended up in a basement of some sort. They stood in front of a steel door with a sign on it: KEEP OUT. This caused Brick to feel a little nervous.

"Don't worry, just a sign for the curious newborn angels… sometimes they wander everywhere. But take this net to help you. Those souls move pretty fast." She handed him a jumbled up net, to which he nodded his appreciation. "Just walk through the door."

She walked over to a lever and pulled it down to open the steel doors. When they opened, a blue air was causing strong winds to fill the basement; the objects placed throughout the room began to fly everywhere. "Could you hurry this up, please!" Jenn yelled from her position by the lever, barely managing to stay on her feet.

"Oh, sorry!" Brick yelled back to her as he walked through the doors and Jenn pushed the lever back up once he was out of sight. "Fantastic," she groaned, looking at the huge mess in the basement. As she was working to put everything back in place, one question was running through her mind: _"Am I really an angel?"_

* * *

**Brick's P.O.V**

In seconds, I was walking in what I guess is the neutral realm. Pretty obvious actually, as white blurs zoomed past me. And also, some were a burning red? They were huge; about the size of soccer balls.

But this neutral realm really just looks like an open plain, but most of the grass is dead and it's dark down here. Dark like a storm is about to blow over. I turned around, looking for the blue whatever-it-was that I came through, but it wasn't there. It actually made me worry a bit as of how I was going to get back. but Jenn's a smart girl, and I trust her. She'll think of something soon to get me back. I know it.

Well, I better get started then. As I saw a white one fly towards me, I threw the net on top of it. But to my surprise, it tore right through the net, and crashed into my chest, knocking me on my rear-end. Did Jenn do her research on these things? They're fast _and_ strong! She said nothing about that! Maybe a dumb idea, but I folded the net and tried again. I got the same results; the soul just ripped through two layers of my net. As I was looking at my net, another soul came at me, hitting me again. And when you get hit in the same spot twice, it starts to hurt… just a bit. But I'll get it down soon; I endured more pain than this in training.

* * *

**Jo's P.O.V**

"Go to hell you old hag!" I screamed at the migraine-inducing blonde ho-bag in front of me as I heard a beep someplace in the room.

"You first, you disgusting ball of sweat!" she screamed back at me, flaring her blood-red wings. I scowled; I swear that bitch is always showing off. The only reason she has her wings is because she's a thousand years old. I'll get mine soon enough. I know it.

"Look, you're both already there! Now you two go find something else to do and stop saying that word! You know good and damn well I get notified whenever that word is used!" McLean screamed at us from his desk, doing something on his phone.

"Every time someone says hell?" Blaineley said, feigning innocence with a fake confused look as Chris's phone beeped again.

Eh, I guess I could join her. "Wow McLean! That hella cool!" I grinned when I heard another beep, and saw his annoyed facial expression.

"Seriously! Now why the hell doesn't my phone do that?" She grinned at me and then at Chris.

I guess that did it, he screamed when his phone beeped again. "That's it!" he yelled, throwing his phone at the all-red wall to the right of him, watching it break into pieces on the floor. "Jo! Go do something useful! Tell Alejandro and Heather to get their asses down here!"

"In all seriousness, I don't see what was going through your tiny brain when you decided to let them both collect the demons. You know all they were gonna do is suck face on the ground, right? I bet they haven't even caught any." All I got in response was mumbles from Chris. _I know_ when I'm right and _McLean knows_ when I'm right. Before I pulled the lever to the steel doors down I gave them a little heads up. "I suggest someone stand at the lever and push it back up as soon as I leave, unless anyone wants to clean up a giant mess."

When I saw Chris run over to me, I pulled the lever down before he could get to it and watched all the things in the room blow around. "Jo, you little bitch! I'm not cleaning this up!"

I chuckled at him. "Good to know, but you might wanna find someone who will!" As I walked through the blue winds, I heard Blaineley screaming something. "I broke a nail! Jo, you're gonna pay for this!"

Damn. I was hoping something heavy flew towards her and she would've broken a bone or two. I chuckled. I'd love to see how I'm "gonna pay for this."

"Al! Heather-feather!" I called for them, knowing how much they both hated those names.

"Oh, that steroid-filled bitch!" I heard ways away, followed by a pleading "Mi Amour, calm down! It's a cute nickname, really!" I laughed; this is too good!

"Shut up Alejandro!" I finally saw Heather walking towards me with an icy glare, Al running behind. "Hey Heather, how's it going?" I smiled at her.

"Call me that again, and I'll end you!" I frowned a bit. Rude; was she going to say hello back? Whatever.

"I would love to see that!" Alejandro holding a fuming Heather back from "ripping me to shreds" really was something to see. "I just came to tell you guys that Chris said to get your asses back down there."

"Whatever!" was her reply as they submerged through the ground, both flipping me off as they did. I gladly returned the gesture.

When that fun little escapade was finally over, I saw something I haven't seen in a very long time. A fairly tall, white hue… getting pummeled by white and red souls. By the look of the halo above their head, I know it's another angel. Judging by their shitty performance, I know they're fairly new to this. _This is gonna be fun._

I snuck up behind them, discovering that "it" was a guy. I moved my tail around my waist to poke him in the side from behind, enjoying him flinch at the feeling.

"Hey!"

* * *

**Brick's P.O.V.**

"Hey!" I yelped as I felt something poke—more so _stab_ me at the hip. Looking down I saw it was a tail of some sort, with a point at the end, that of which must've stuck me. Turning around as it receded, I ended up looking into the violet orbs of a girl, about as tall as me. One with Horns, a tail, and a red hue encircling her. My hue was a bright white, her's was a dark red. I had a halo, and she had horns.

_I really hope she's not what I think she is._ Jenn never told me about that… _but maybe I should've saw it coming?_

"First time?" she grinned at me.

.

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* * *

**Alright! Another one of my boring introduction chapters! I know, I know; I'm sorry. **

**Can you tell I'm making this up as I go?**

**Not much to say, besides read and review!**

**~JockShipper**


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